not much progress after a productive first night. I wanted to get some more work in last night, but after an evening out with my mom, I was too exhausted to be productive. Tonight, I am at work, which gives me an opportunity to either work on putting together drum loops, or write lyrics, of which I'm gonna need plenty......

so, worked out some words and a vocal melody for the song which had a working title of Tiny Dinosaurs (cause the chord change is a total J Mascis ripoff, so, junior dinosaurs = tiny dinosaurs, get it? haha)..... anyhow, with lyrics the song is now called Seeking Shelter, the melody is a bit of a Pixies lift, so I guess this song is gonna be a total 90's alternative rock bonanza... or something.....

with a bit of the creative buzz that always happens when a new song starts to take shape in my mind, I hope to maybe have a little left in the tank to record a bit when i get home.... I have a play (starring my daughter) to attend to Saturday night, and then a double shift on Sunday (more lyrics and drums if I get motivated!) so the next batch of lots of time to get in deep will be Monday/Tuesday.....

at this point 3 songs that are definitely gonna be on the album: Seeking Shelter, Search Your Feelings, Sinking Ship...... no more "S" titles!!!!

Wrote and demoed (sort of) three songs today. Didn't break any new ground, but it shut up the "you shouldn't have signed up this year, really you should stop wasting your time with music" conscience voice of self-doubt I'd had slamming me since 9:00 PM on January 31

It's a really cool detuned triangle run through some light distortion. I liked it a lot but it didn't have the sort of punch I wanted so I decided I'd need to do something kind of weird to add that in.

So what I did was layer in a kick. It's triggered via the note layout midi. (The kick follows the melody of the synth)

From there I

1. Sidechained the synth to the kick so it would duck when the kick hits

2. Comped the kick and the synth together so they would sound more like one thing.

Still a little rough, but I'm confident post mix this will sound really dope. The synth itself is kind of unorthodox, so it'll give a different feeling to this track once it's done. Looking forward to what the end product sounds like.

There was also this really cool vocal flanging technique I used that I hadn't done before, but I'll save that for another blog. This Dr.Scientist Bitquest pedal is really dope & I'll be using it on vox and synths more in the other tracks.

Hope the challenge is going well for you, hopefully this blog has some value to you. Wish you luck. All the best. Talk to you soon.

When it comes to songwriting, I realize that a lot of my songs are inspired by drum patterns or a bassline. Today, I spent a good amount of time trying to start writing lyrics first before worrying about anything else. There are really some great prompts in the thread, but I wasn't able to get too much done with them. I ended up going through a ton of my old notes and found a message that I wrote to myself over a year ago:

"Stop holding people to a standard that YOU created out of thin air. If your friend is inherently a jerk, stop getting pissy when he acts like a jerk; accept it or bounce. If she keeps showing out after all this time, that's who she IS. Either learn to accept it and adapt or LEAVE.

Stop getting in your feelings about shit that's been going on since Day 1. *name redacted*, you should know better by now."

I was obviously in my feelings about something haha, but it inspired me to start writing lyrics using some of those sentences. No title yet, but it's going to be about someone who would rather deny reality then take action (someone = me). We all have had that situation; dealing with a friend/partner who shows you exactly who they are through their actions. It's easy to be too timid to even consider just removing yourself from a situation or cutting someone out of your life.

*whew* Lots of words haha, but soon there will be a melody to help things move along.

So I haven't had time to really get going yet. I was out for a works do last night, and tonight I was playing a gig. I did give myself the last two weeks of January to write the songs though as my time is limited in February. So here they are. Some I'm quite proud of, others are pretty throwaway, but I guess that's what you get when writing under pressure.

Round The Bend

Eight floors up so don’t look down The highest point in this little town So twisting No resisting Claustrophobic pressure building up before dying down

(Chorus) Turned around all seems the same Up and down and round the bend Driving round in circles just to get to the start again And never get to go back home

Snaking upwards above the streets Looking downwards onto grey concrete Can’t leave it Can’t believe it now Disoriented glimpses in the mirror of the back seat

Fake Applause

Hiking through fields to the pill box down the lane Preparing to meet up with the gang Hearing the roar of the fighters overhead Plotting the master plan Thinking out loud due to the smokers at the back Forgetting the task at hand

(Chorus) Oh what a thing Oh what a thing to remember And oh what a thing Propelling you off for the cause Surviving the dangerous game Pushing on through the campaign As you wrestle yourself away from the fake applause

Laid in the bedsit waiting for the clock to tick Dust concentrated on the shelves Dirty dishes piled up high inside the sink Hiding inside yourself But then there’s the stage and its constant steady draw Maybe it’s worth the risk

Passing the time between the rest stops on the road Reaching the end of the line

Take The Blame

I can’t take all the blame You take some too All twisted unexplained You’ll get what’s due Believing all you said was right You can’t bring a knife to this gunfight That’s bad advice

You’re dodging from the blame You think that’s fine Perhaps you ought to change If so inclined Never backing out or calming down Common sense really never ventured out To this battleground

(Chorus) Take the blame Don’t sort it Never get to put it right It’s not the same God damn it What you’ve got to prove is how you ever got to sleep at night

Still hiding from the blame You have throughout Left weakened feeling drained Still frozen out All the times you said you should you can’t Still spinning the same old tired yarn To your counterpart

High

Eyes shut tight while laying on your pillow Holding your nerve with the face against the window Hoping you can restrain yourself Ruing the life and the cards you’ve been dealt

(Chorus) High You get so high

Cover your eyes you’ve come upon another Lost in the house with your sister and your brother Laying a trail to find your way out Breadcrumbs back to the door of nagging doubt

Wanderlust tugging at the cortex of your brain The light in the tunnel is the light of an oncoming train Blinded by the glare in your eyes The warning was there but still taken by surprise

Six Feet Below

Batting the ball again Around the field of broken dreams Trying your best to win but Never like the way it turns out it seems Keep looking down again As you’re coming across as strange, my friend

(Chorus) Leaving the army frightened Sinking so low And you lost all the naïve charm that you claimed to show But can you dodge all the bullets that are trying to send you Six feet below Still tightly wrapped in the blanket as a barrier against the cold

Praised at the welcome home Though you never really had a chance Judged as a waif or stray But just a victim of circumstance Gained over twenty pounds And then lost it again by the final round

Left a note to the counsellor Tied plenty of knots in the rope to be sure

Hit Reset

What you wanted has now become In the future, the chief has won Beat your rival now but hide the bear Spinning up and down And round again Discrete affair

(Chorus) Don’t want to be reminded Of the latest threat Already been decided The road’s all set If only they would hit reset

Investigation starting, so build a wall Offering mass relief with no grace at all Nose poked out in front yet come in last Rivals taking turns To gain the lead As the rest all pass

(Middle 8) Thinking of the forces But none go home Settler divorces They’re all sent home

The Grass Is Always Greener

Waiting on the outcome of the cut Decisions made, the reasons covered up The thought of doing nothing The thought of doing right Surrendered forcibly without a fight

(Chorus) The grass is always greener Or so we’ve all been told A certain fake demeanour And a pot of endless gold But when they turned the lights out At the fifteen star hotel We just stumbled round to find it all withheld

Never had a need to look elsewhere Reclining back in the comfy easy chair Didn’t spot the signals Didn’t spot the signs It wasn’t till the credit got declined

On buyout day the massed all faced the chop The balance held, the cheques had all been stopped First they got the teachers Then they got the pawns The final grim conclusion was foregone

A Vista Let Go Fallow

Heading off, west of Sheffield station Aboard the dark, foreboding tunnelled line Reach the peaks, bedecked in wreaths Of soft white fluffy down That lift As they drift Past the town

Staring up, relishing the journey It’s good to be, up here once again On the slopes, the wind whips round The cloven ravaged trees Then subsides As it sighs Finally free

(Chorus) Climbing, high up on the hillside Climbing, up above the clouds Below A vista let go fallow

Contemplate, the panoramic landscape Bouncing off the distant rolling hills Purple locks of flowers bob Gently in the breeze As they wave To the passing Honey bees

Fight Night

Four shandies at the bar Three Jägerbombs, and a cheap cigar Pre-drinks before the club And a couple more, at the local pub

(Chorus) Fight night, good times, time to down another Fight night, face down, head laid in the gutter Fight night, last night, same as any other one

2.8 days per song. That's the rate of effort required to get this done in the time we have. That feels insurmountable as I sit here typing this, but at least I've started well.

Today started in Guitar Help in Mokotów in Warsaw. Late last year, I'd taken the Rickenbacker in for a set-up, and after month it needed some fine-tuning, so I did that first thing, then headed off to the office. Some record label business, and a small list of other tasks were quickly ticked off and I came home with a sense of purpose to get this first song well underway.

It didn't start as ideally as I'd like - the demos from last night were almost immediately thrown out and I started again, but this time I knew exactly what I wanted to do, so I just got on with it.

In the absence of a live drum-kit, I'll be recording drums largely using Kontakt and some drum sample sets I have. Tonight I've been using the Abbey Road 60s Drummer set and M-Audio's trigger-finger to perform them.

Once that was done, it was time to get into the bass and though it took a few hours on the drums (the Trigger-Finger isn't great, and after performing, there's a lot of tidying up), the bass came together very quickly indeed.

So that was this evening - tomorrow, guitars and vocals - and then maybe some added extras - depending on how it all sounds. For now though - I'm feeling good.

The same challenge... or is it? The "rules" stay the same, yet each challenge has its own flavour to it and brings me back to its particular recording circumstances: the lo-lo-fi acoustic weirdness of 2007's "Chronicles... vol 1"; 2009's "Tired of People" dominated by a 15 minute ambient piece, 2014's subdued "Trashcan Pennybags" and the Californian double album blowout of "In D" in 2016.

This is my 12th RPM now, and last year was really the first year that I was more or less happy with the full thing. So what to do this year? Clearly the answer is to move country, move apartments, change job, join a band, change setup... not sure what this February will hold yet but it's all part of the fun.

I made very little progress yesterday, as I've got a few different ideas and didn't know what to work on. Today I've done a little bit on almost everything: why finish one track when you can work on 4 at the same time?!

So, I brought my brilliant musical daughter with me to Caffe Lena last night to see our favorite local band, Driftwood. Their virtuosity on their instruments (guitar, banjo, fiddle, and upright bass) along with the impossibly perfect blending of their voices left me with two simultaneous thoughts:

1. I need to record something amazing

2. Why the hell do I bother?

Those same two thoughts battle each other every time I see Bruce Hornsby, Indigo Girls, or any other band that does what I do infinitely better.

The only consolation I have is knowing that they haven't lived my life, so my stories are different. My limitations force ingenuity. My weaknesses at times can come across as strengths.

In the words of brilliant songwriter Tim Alexander (known to the music world as Letter Seventeen), "As for mistakes, I've made a few, but I've lived a life. I've seen things you'll never see, and I've earned my right.

Well, here's to an album that matters in it's own way. Besides, what self-respecting artist would ever record an album called Saco River Pirate?

As another brilliant lyricist - Sid the Sloth - has said, "Dignity has nothing to do with it."

First of all, I’m writing an RPM blog post on my phone. That’s a first. I can’t thank everyone involved in bringing the new site live enough. You are all a bunch of rockstars.

Second, last night I wrote a little groove that turned out to be in 5/8 time. That is definitely a first for me.

Third, a few minutes ago I was working on a new idea while in the hospital. I’m visiting someone (everything is fine) and they are off having a test done. I was alone in the room so I messed with a bass part on GarageBand on my iPhone. I love living in the future.

I've got to admit that I'm really not feeling the vibe this time around. Probably something to do with the enthusiasm sapping flu I had at the end of January.

I've completed seven RPM challenges so far, but this time I just can't face the methods I've used over the years to create stuff. I usually do 8 tracks over the 35 minutes. This time, if I can drag myself out of my gloom, I'm going for a single 35 minute behemoth of a track.

Waaaay back in 2011 my friend Emily and I decided to give RPM a shot and we were so pleased with the turnout that we decided to actually start a band, The Barn Swallows. You know what's really awesome? Being in a fun band with your closest friends.

That album was essentially done in a week, due to the flu and work schedules and all. Thank goodness for Jason Phelps' help with recording and for school vacation week.

I left new England and moved back home to Louisville in 2013, and leaving The Barn Swallows was one of the saddest parts of that! Anyway, here I am in Louisville, now trying to do this alone. Am hoping to draft a lot of friends for help. Especially with the recording part--I am not very savvy with GarageBand. And so far it looks like I'm the only person in the entire state of Kentucky who's registered. WTH?

Song 1 has been written and demoed, just need a bit of time to record keeepers but it's a solo guitar/vocal so I'm not worried about that.

I have an idea and some lyrics for song 2 and a mate is coming round tonight who is an ace bass player so I'm planning on finishing writing it together then recording live bass and guitar against EZ Drummer which should be fun. He's also an ace mandolin player so song 11 which is going to be acoustic guitar/harp/mando might get done too. Loving it so far.

I approached yesterday in my usual way. I built a song off of a synth sound that I liked. When I had all the instrumentation finished, I decided that I'd like to add some acoustic guitar on top of it all. Time will tell if it makes the final cut, but I like the way it turned out so far.

Adore from The Smashing Pumpkins is one of my favorite albums. The way my work seems to be shaping up for this project reminds me a bit of that album. I can see a form taking place and that can only help me. Like a sculptor chiseling away at a slab of marble...

Given Day One started 3 hours into a night shift for me and I slept for much of the rest of it and was a zombie when I woke up (I'm getting too old for night shift, seriously) I am happy that today I have managed to put the bare bones of a couple of tracks down and tidied my work space a little (something I really should have done in January but oh well) I am enjoying listening to other RPMers sonic adventures so far and reading blogs at random, but I really have to watch that, as it can serve as a procrastination strategy, something I have never really needed extra help with (procrastination I mean)

Yes, yes, it is time. I'm still running on no sleep, just got off the graveyard shift at the slave pit that pays the bills. Third day I believe, with three hours of dream land.

I'm borderline delirious, and I smell like shit, but this is what it feels (and smells like) to be balls deep in the sweet stank of rock and / or roll.

by the end of the day I aim to have the drums and guitar done for at least all ten songs... which means six more.

This is still the easy and fun part. It doesn't get hard until I get to the leads and vocals... which still isn't necessarily difficult, it just requires more focus than jamming on riffs, drums and basslines. And heaven have mercy on me if I decide like a dick to put keyboards on any of this stuff.

Currently, the tunes are shaping into some bizarre hodgepodge of doom metal, dream pop, black metal, grunge and punk rock... which is pretty much what I have always kinda done anyway.

I'm not reinventing any wheels here, just doing what I like to do and hoping it doesn't sound like a turd.

But even if it does, I'm a pretty good mixing engineer, so at the very least it will sound like a polished turd.